Thermal analysis of the cavity facet for an 808 nm semiconductor laser by using near-field scanning optical microscopy

In order to analyze the thermal characteristics of the cavity facet of a semiconductor laser, a home-built near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) is employed to probe the topography of the facet. By comparing the topographic images of two samples under different DC current injections, we can find that the thermal characteristic is related to its lifetime. We show that it is possible to predict the lifetime of the semiconductor laser diode with non-destructive tests.